Council Tax Cost Cutting: reduce your band and grab any discounts Discussion Area

getsct

the authority to act form was designed by the VOA and sent to the agents to use. This has been in use for the past few months only so it depends when you signed up, as you might of signed up before the form was developed in which case we would still accept the case. This might be the case considering your local office accepted it as your band has been lowered by them. This being the case unfortunately you will have to pay the company there requested amount or they have the right to take you to court, the VOA cannot and will not get involved in your dispute with this company.

Gediknight

Moved into a new build, 3 bed detached with garage. Got banded a F, on the same street, albeit this is a new development, houses over 45k and 60k more than what we paid for ours. They are 4 bedroomed properties and ours is a 3 bed. We are all banded as F, house for sale in the estate next to us, but closest is banded as a E, which I think we should be. Contacted the Assessors office and requested I have our property reassessed, have I done the right thing. :eek:

rammy007

If you challenge your banding and have had an extension on the house do you risk it going up a band,some houses a few doors away have been rebanded to a lower band our houses are all basically the same but we had an extension on the back so bit worried in case they put it up.

lincroft1710

rammy007 wrote: »

If you challenge your banding and have had an extension on the house do you risk it going up a band,some houses a few doors away have been rebanded to a lower band our houses are all basically the same but we had an extension on the back so bit worried in case they put it up.

Your CT band could only be increased if the extension was built by a previous owner, or was built prior to Apr 1993 (Eng and Scot) or Apr 2003 (Wales) and is not reflected in current CT band.

rammy007

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Your CT band could only be increased if the extension was built by a previous owner, or was built prior to Apr 1993 (Eng and Scot) or Apr 2003 (Wales) and is not reflected in current CT band.

Thanks it did put us off challenging the banding because of it but i think we have a good case as two houses 3 and 4 doors away have been rebanded in the last week so surely this makes our case stronger

razord

Hey Guys,

I'm looking for a little bit of advice here! My mum has just moved from a Band B £145k house to a £89k flat, that the council say is Band C.

It was build in 2008, which obviously makes it harder to know its value in 1991, but the checker suggests it's well in Band A.

The neighbours are all on Band C too, so i'm not sure if its worth writing to the VOA. Is it worth asking them to explain why its Band C already? Or does inquiring immediately trigger a reassessment?

Thanks,
Liam

lincroft1710

Asking the VOA why a dwelling is in the band it is does not automatically trigger a reassessment.

webbins

Hello folks.
I am undecided with how to progress following my rebanding challenge. I currently live in a Band B two-up two-down grade II listed cottage. I was alerted to three of my neighbours successfully having their bands pegged back to A by a company phishing for business to do the same for me. With the help of this site I was able to research and compose the letter myself however.

Unfortunately, despite all of this research pointing towards a strong case, this first challenge was rejected, but with a letter that didn't seem to acknowledge the facts. I wrote another letter detailing all my research and on this occasion the letter received told me the review would be conducted by somebody senior. However, again, this review rejected my claim, in admittedly more detail than the first but neglecting to explain how my neighbours had their bands changed whereas I was unsuccessful. I should add that the house is contained within a row of Grade II listed terraced cottages in Bradford, all virtually identical. My research indicated all should be band A, but it seems the VOA is only willing to acknowledge a few to be band A.

My question is it worth taking this further to the tribunal or should I let it be? Am I being given the cold shoulder by the VOA as they have already rebanded a few and as my claim could go all the way back to 2004, are they avoiding the prospect of a hefty payout?

Many thanks in advance.

sundevil_rachael

Hi people, I am wondering if anyone has ever had a hearing to 'decide if a proposal against banding is competent' as they submitted an appeal after the initial six months of becoming a tax payer?

I am in a one bedroom new build property - a tiny pokey livnig room come kitchen with one bedroom. It had been valued as band D.

I didn't appeal in time as in my total ignorance I didn't reigster the original notification and then paid council tax at £25 a month higher than my Band A so thought this was ok - I was band b or c. However when they took payments over 12 months rather than the normal 10 the penny dropped.

I was about 10 months too late to appeal. My neighbour also appealed and she was only a month later. Phase 2 on our street has just completed and they are also Band D. It is madness - my childhood home which was a huge three bedroom property is Band B!

I know this is a problem with new builds so does anyone have any tips for this initial appeal?

Many Thanks

exvoperson

I have not been involved in council tax for a few months but I doubt the rules have changed. Your appeal must be made within 6 months of taking occupation and not a day latter. Going to tribunal on this point will be a waste of time.

One option you do have is to make a fresh appeal referring to a relevant tribunal decision and that must be done within 6 months of the date of the decision. basically go to the VT website and look at reported CT decisions for your area and see if any are relevant, ideally it will be on another 1 bed property reduced from d to c or on something similar. You will have to state in your appeal why you thing the decision is relevant to your case. if not relevant case check every 3 moths or so until something comes up.